City’s children are being left to surf web alone

Sheffield’s children are allowed to surf the web unsupervised months before parents allow them to walk to school alone a new study has revealed.

The research surveyed 1,005 parents in the UK and compared the different ages of lifetime and technology firsts in a child’s life.

The survey revealed Sheffield’s youngsters are allowed to surf the net unsupervised at nine years old - eight months before parents allow them to walk to school alone.

Children will have a computer in their room at eight years and three months, a year before the national average, and own a mobile phone at nine years and three months, four months before the l average.

Other findings from the survey, commissioned by security vendor ESET UK, revealed 91 per cent of Sheffield parents believe their children spend too much time with technology and 69 per cent are worried about online risks.